Author's Notes:
From Stryker: Hey everyone, Strykeruk here. Hope you are all staying safe and healthy. Silent's got another lovely chapter for us, he's powering through it during lock-down. Hope you enjoy it and remember, as bad as lock-downs might be at least we aren't manual scavengers too XD
Now that you mention it, Stryker, the developing countries are gonna be balls deep in trouble. For example, India, where the term and the job "manual scavenger" originated, just had its first Chinese coronavirus death a few days ago, and it was in one of its biggest slums. The manual scavs survive on paycheck to paycheck, and I doubt they can go jump into a pile of shit for peanuts when a lockdown is imminent.
Man, the world's going crazy. Stay safe, everybodyb
Word count: just shy of exactly 8,400 words. Finally! A chapter well within my preferred limits.
Other note: "Fall Examinations" in previous chapters have been retconned into "Summer Examinations".
Timestamp key: "D" for days, "W" for weeks, "M" for months, "Y" for years, "EM" for early morning, "LM" for late morning, "EA" for early afternoon, "LA" for late afternoon, "EE" for early evening, "LN" for late night, and "AD" for all day. Note that the Realms follows the sexagesimal system for keeping time, just like Earth. (In other words, 60 seconds per minute and 60 minutes per hour.)
Snip category key: There are four categories of snips. "Settling In", "City Life", "Beyond the Wall", and "The Journey Home". All four represent parallel storylines that take place within Aimless, and other than "Settling In", each snip category has at least two subtypes. Those subtypes aren't listed due to potential spoilers.
Enjoy!
Settling In
Chapter 43: Moving Up 1
"People don't get promoted for doing their jobs really well. They get promoted by demonstrating their potential to do more."
- Tara Jaye Frank
[43D/EM]
Today, the Residential Area's occupied floors buzzed with activity. Temple apprentices of all levels, from young whelps and adolescents to dragons on the cusp of adulthood, clumped into small lounges of three to six. Necks bent over sheets and unrolled scrolls of parchment, dragons of various elements and ages discussed amongst themselves in hushed tones.
Myriad topics fluttered around their snouts. A keen listener would've learned they Included specific skills concerning a certain element and the shaping exercises necessary for their successful execution; technical principles or theorems related to certain crafts; practical knowledge on natural life in the Dragon Realms; sociological differences between species; and so on and so forth.
A thinking listener might have concluded Warfang Temple to be more than just a training ground for element channeling. It was a school, of sorts, only for dragons. Specifically, dragons with status or close ties to those who did.
A listener, Joshua Renalia was not. Taking his last step down from the mezzanine landing, he glanced downward to the left and eyed the yellow dragoness by his side. "You know where to go from here, right?"
"Yes, brother."
His gaze fell on the saddlebag hanging on her flank. "You've got everything you need in there?"
"Yes."
Joshua fell to one knee. He cupped the little girl's muzzle with his good hand. Tenderly, he rubbed his thumb on her flews. The scales were smooth as usual. He stared into her blue eyes. His sixth sense, into her soul.
Her "sphere of life", as Joshua termed it, looked small. It spun a bit faster than it usually did. It spasmed in time with the dragon's heartbeat. He sighed, realizing there was a shade of yellow in it. "Kilat, are you nervous?"
"A little bit..."
"Aww... Are those dragons bullying you again?" Joshua recalled the incident in his head. It happened on his second week, and caused quite the headache for Cynder and Volteer, since it spawned more negative rumors about him.
"No."
"Is it the exam today?"
"Yeah..." She stared at the floor.
"How come? You've been prepping for it all week."
Kilat pawed at the cold stone beneath her. "Because I feel, I, I, uhmm, like there's something—someone gnawing at my tail. What if I, don't do that well?"
"Volteer's expecting a lot from you, huh?"
"Uh huh. The Electricity stuff is fine, but Volty says I'm very smart for my age so he's having me do stuff I have trouble understanding."
The life of a scholar... Hearing this, Joshua could relate a little. Back home, he'd have a few friends or classmates who had skipped a grade level or two. Their problems were similar. They had a hard time fitting in with people older than them to begin with, and the added pressure worsened things.
"I, I don't want to disappoint him..."
Joshua's grip on her snout hardened. He pulled her closer. Kilat let him wrap his good arm around her, her muzzle sinking into his chest while she hummed happily, feeling his fingers rub the spot between her wings. "Don't worry, Kilat. Clear your mind and just give it your best."
The little girl raised her snout and licked his face. "I will." She breathed deeply, inhaling his scent. She wrapped her lone wing around him, then wilted in his arm, nuzzling the crook of his neck. "Thanks."
They stayed like that for a few moments. Okay, that should be enough. Joshua released the dragoness. She sat on her haunches. "Do you know where to go from here?"
"It's in Alona Hall," Kilat answered. "I know how to get there." Then she asked, "What about you? Are you still"—her features scrunched—"working that disgusting 'job'?"
"Yeah. Up until the 'high-flyers' say otherwise."
Revulsed, she stuck her tongue out. "I'm getting sick of you coming to our room smelling like you came out of my cloaca."
Joshua chuckled. "Kilat, I can't do anything about that. You know I work in a bath—in a lavatorium! Look, I can always ask one of the guards for scented oils. You don't have to give me a bath every day."
"Yes, I do! Scented oil doesn't work. The only way is the dragon way! And somebody's got to clean you up." Kilat declared, "If I don't do it, nobody will!" She puffed out her tiny breast. "Brother, I hate it, but... I do it 'cause I love you."
Joshua rolled his eyes. Look at her, proud to sacrifice her comfort for his hygiene. So much for that excuse. "You do you, then."
"...uhm, you're talking weird again..."
"It means 'go ahead and do whatever you want'," grumbled Joshua. He petted her head; scratched behind the horns. "Silly girl. I told you what it meant last week. Don't tell me you forgot."
If she did, she didn't answer him. "When are they giving you another job?" she whined. "I thought you did well with that thing Volty and that bitch made you do the other day."
Try as he might, he couldn't stop Kilat from taking on his penchant for swearing. He hadn't even told her what any of those words meant and she still used them on a regular basis. Jesus Christ, he needed to get his dirty mouth under control.
One day, he told himself. One day. But first...
"They have to discuss my case with the other Guardians before they make any moves. I don't know if they have to talk it out with the rest of the Council too." It had been a very long time since he saw both the Council and the Guardians together, but if there's one thing he recalled completely it was that there were more councilors than he expected from a medieval society.
"I guess that makes sense," her voice trailed.
"Anyway, can you please not call Cynder a bitch? She saved the world too. She deser—
Kilat glared at him. Her life signature went still. "Just because you worship Cynder's paws doesn't mean I have to."
"Wha-what—hey, wait a minute now. That's not what I—
"I have to go, Joshua. I might be late." Kilat's muzzle reached out and licked his cheek—she nipped his nose!
"Ow!"
"And, B.T.W, try to stay clean this time, okay? See you later!"
The child prodigy ran off into the corridors before he could so much as retort. She quickly scurried away, turning past the corner, outside his line of sight. He could still perceive her sphere of life from this distance. He could track her if he wanted to but...
It was pointless.
He was also running a little late himself.
Today was called Valorem. Kilat had told him so, as did Under Steward Nydec. The mole asked him to report to the Office of the Keeper earlier than usual. Something to do with the Summer Examinations being one of the Temple's busiest times in the season.
Having walked this route so many times by now, Joshua no longer had a problem with the directions. He knew which corridors to turn into, which halls to skip. He was already starting to recognize tiny, easily-missable markings telling him where to go.
Only now did he figure out that each room on this level—all assigned to at least one apprentice—were marked with numerals that didn't correspond with the English alphabet. Sometimes the sign was a room number. Other times, it was an imperfection in the rock, or a shallow scratch mark a dragon had put there years ago.
More than a month and a half after he started work as a manual scavenger (by his calculations) and now Joshua held no fear of getting lost. As usual Copeland and Streeg escorted him through the halls, flanking him from the sides. If anybody wanted to sink their teeth in him, they'd have to go through a pair of highly-trained and heavily-armed knights.
He raised his right hand and ogled it. A single thought—a simple, conceivable command was all it took to bask his hand in a subtle white glow. And I'm not so defenseless anymore either. He still couldn't channel his Element with the intent and power to hurt people, let alone kill them. At least now he's capable of buying time.
Sooner or later, they'd have to promote him! They had to! The way all those dragons were just begging to go near him the other day... Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, it would be so incredibly orgasmic to be told he'd no longer be a living pooper scooper! Joshua started laughing. He squealed and whooped in cheer. Just one more week...
No! His smile grew wider. Just a few more days!
And that f*cking daily olfactory torture would be FINALLY OVER!
Something solid struck his thigh. It was as painful, and sudden. Joshua's mind went blank. The white glow vanished ; he stumbled. Fell on his knees. His face also would've met the floor if he hadn't thrust his good arm outward. "Ah f*ck!"
He glowered at the offender. "Copeland, what? Why'd you kick me? That hurt!"
"Take a look around and see for yourself."
Joshua was about to retort when he noticed they weren't alone. He was still in one of the larger corridors, in full view of anyone passing through here.
And he was completely surrounded by dragons. Some seated on the sides of the hall. Others with the rooms, the doors left open. Fewer had just been walking through.
Every single one of them had stopped in their tracks, and stared at him.
Joshua's face went crimson from embarrassment. Shit. Before the dragons would either run away from him on sight or hold their ground and unwittingly frighten him into silence and retreat. Now they were giving him this weird, awkward stare. Their spheres of life were a mix of blue and yellow, and they looked a little agitated.
Nervous maybe? Or were they mocking him in their head?
"Errrrrrrrrr..." He raised his hand. "Hi guys. Uhm, sorry?"
A fourth of the group scampered off past the nearest corner at his gesture.
"Oh come on, it's not like I did anything!" he yelled at the lizards running away.
Joshua sighed. "Sorry, sorry, I was being weird." He hissed at Copeland. "Can we go now? The longer I stay here the more embarrassed I get."
The knight chortled. "Serves you right, boy!" They resumed walking. "Let this be a lesson," Copeland lectured, "Never let your guard down. Catching prized game doesn't mean anything the first time."
Joshua's and Copeland's actions placated the crowd. The din of talking apprentices returned in full force. For a moment, an open hallway filled with young human teens in blue short-sleeved polos and khaki pants overlaid the dim, crystal-lit corridors of Residential Area 2F and its reptilian occupants. Suddenly reminded of his high school, of Alaric, of Natasha, of the modern conveniences of Earth, of everything this world had taken from him, Joshua felt pain in his chest.
He inhaled deeply and let it go. Now was not the time to reminisce and mope. Joshua distracted himself by focusing more on the apprentices around him.
Looking at them with his eyes, he could see how relaxed they were in spite of his presence. The apprentices laid on their bellies or sat on their haunches, talking amongst themselves like he didn't exist. Many gave him a glance or two over as he passed. Others stared at him like before. Only a minority acted like that Corey guy back in Windvale Arena. Two out of every ten, he guessed. None had the balls to make a move.
It had only been two days since Windvale Arena and already the atmosphere on the second floor had improved to this degree. It was amazing how news of his feat zipped through the entire Temple. He marveled at the rate it spread, at the way it rivalled the grapevine back on Earth.
Joshua suppressed the urge to cry. He felt water in his eyes.
Another deep breath. He calmed his rising heartbeat. Don't get your hopes up, he scolded himself. This world's been tossing him one curve ball after another: the inadequacy of his Spyro lore, a power he'd only just begun to control (and barely at that), and this shitty medieval culture. Verify, verify, verify!
Joshua repressed the buoyancy lifting him up. He killed the joy stirring to life and tapped into his sixth sense. It was second nature now; no different from the way a human would walk on two legs, or a bird would flap its wings. The spheres of life materialized in a vision only he could perceive.
Blue and green. Slow. Smooth. Consistent size. Very little fluctuation among the majority who ignored him and went about their day. Brain processing the information along with his vision, he realized even those who did nothing but stare and gawk at him showed no signs of anxiety or fright.
Joshua could no longer tell how they felt about him, what they thought about him, but he wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth. The mere fact the apprentices here were now neutral was a huge step forward.
Streeg spoke from behind. "Furless ape, happy."
Copeland paused and took in Joshua's face and body language. His throat rumbled. A disapproving growl. "I'm warning you, do not let it get to your head."
"Yeah, yeah, I get it. Just let me enjoy this for a while, okay? Jesus, you're such a killjoy."
The knight waved at him, disgruntled. "Fine. Learn that lesson the hard way, then. I hope by then you'll have fellow hunters in your Great Hunt."
Joshua didn't hear a thing. He stopped in his tracks. "He's here."
They were now in the narrower parts of the second floor. His eyes went to the corner in the distance, where it opened to a slightly larger corridor.
"That dragon again?" An annoyed Copeland hissed.
"Yeah."
"You sure it's the same one?"
"Yeah, absolutely."
For as long as Joshua could remember, every morning he reported to work, frequently this one dragon would follow him all the way to the utilidors. At first he was unnerved at the thought of being followed and assumed multiple individuals were involved. Joshua saw a pattern later on: the dragon stalked him from a safe distance, and always in the vicinity of other apprentices. His life signature was compacted in on itself, its surface turbulent.
Joshua didn't know what his stalker wanted, and honestly he couldn't figure it out. Kilat, ever the naive child, had put it succinctly, "Maybe he's just curious about you? I guess the only reason he doesn't show himself is because of your guards."
That would've been nice, except this world had f*cked with him multiple times. He was probably an informant. A spy of some sort. Joshua wouldn't be surprised if that was true either.
At present Joshua could only sense one life signature at the corner. He could see what looked like the tip of his follower's tail. A shame it's too far and too dim to see the color.
"Hey, you!" Joshua called. "You've been following me for weeks! Why don't you just show yourself?"
The sphere of life abruptly convulsed. Damn it. Did he scare him? Was he feeling anxious? Joshua couldn't tell. He needed more context.
"Copeland and Streeg won't do anything to you, I promise. Just come out and talk!"
Silence.
Joshua strained his ears. He could hear a faint and rapid heartbeat.
How to convince him to show his muzzle...
.
.
.
Joshua couldn't think of a thing.
"Ahhhhh, F*CK!" His arms flailed around as he vented. "Come on, dude! There's nothing to be afraid of. Just get out here and tell me why you're f*cking STALKING me! Hell, we might even become friends!"
His words triggered a reaction from the life signature. Its rotation speed came to a slow crawl and collapsed into a small ball.
Joshua breathed. Okay, he was probably thinking, mulling over the pros and cons. "Think about it, man. You've got nothing to lose here. I'm not an Ape, okay? I'm sociable. I'm not gonna get mad at you. I'm—
Without warning, the pulse of life violently expanded. Turning yellow, the stalker turned around and absconded the scene. His paws clacked on the floor as the sphere exited his detection range. For all his effort, the only thing Joshua saw was a red tail.
...was it red? He couldn't tell from the poor lighting.
Joshua was dismayed. Where did he go wrong? He invited the apprentice out to talk, even gave assurance that nothing bad would happen. Why didn't that work? He couldn't understand.
The rhynoc bellowed, "Smushed, egg." He broke into deep, guttural laughter.
"Prepare well, hunt well, brat," said Copeland.
The leopard had an I-told-you-so tone in his voice. He detested it.
"F*ck you," Joshua replied. "Let's just move on."
Copeland scowled. He did nothing else. "Someday I'll find out what that means..."
.
.
.
Joshua and his security made it to the utilidor access without incident. Along the way, he was imagining how claustrophobic this passage would be to an adult dragon. The corridors closest to the cul-de-sacs only fit two adults at most after all. They were large for whelps and adolescents, and certainly even more so for him.
Something to ask Seriphos, Coloumbrin, or Emerine later, he thought to himself.
"Hey! Finally you're here!"
Joshua snapped back. The utilidor access was open. He saw a mole standing in front of it waving at him with gloved paws raised in the air. A smile on his pointy snout.
"Blink!" A surprised Joshua waved back. "What are you doing—
The young boar gave him a hearty slap on the shoulder when he came up to him. "Great work back at Windvale Arena, Joshua!" he said. "Everybody's talking about it."
Joshua huffed. "I bet you had a part in that, you naughty rat. You were there."
Blink completely ignored the insult. "Yes! And it was worth it! I've never seen so many scalies shoving, clawing, even biting each other just for a few minutes with you!" He started laughing. One of the knights guarding the utilidor entrance, a dragon, shifted uncomfortably as they walked past him and into the utilidors. His life signature quaked. "Looks like you need a new nickname, 'Dragonbane'."
The mole pup's attitude now was a complete 180° to the taciturn and passive-aggressive approach he had towards Joshua the first time they met. Blink started opening up ever since Joshua decided to heed Vara's advice and talk to him a few days ago. The kid had a mischievous streak, and he had an odd liking to stories about defying the status quo—things that were subversive in nature.
Fitting, considering his profound dislike for the Moles' fetishistic worship of dragons.
"I'd rather just be called Joshua," the gamer admitted. "But if they'll call me something else, that's fine. I've had enough with the 'Dragonbane' shit." He patted the young mole on the head. Blink's bandana was clearly high-quality fabric. Two notches higher than the hand-me-downs that red cheetah donated to him last month.
Sphere of life contracting, Blink slapped his hand away. "Watch it!" he said, annoyed. "Not too close, okay? It feels weird. Only Uncle Dumitru does that to me."
"Ahh, sorry." Apparently his so-called "magic fingers" worked best on dragons. "I thought you wouldn't mind. Oh hey, this means the boars will stop calling me 'dragon killer' too, huh?"
"I wouldn't get your hopes up. Most—I mean, all moles dream of having a dragon snuggle up to them. Getting a small group of scalies to like you won't erase the fact you killed so many."
"That's what I told him," Copeland interjected.
Joshua stuttered. "B-b-but, it's, i-it's a good start, isn't it?"
Blink ducked under a support arch as they descended a spiral staircase. Joshua recognized this. It meant they were a fifth of the way through to the main tunnel. They were going faster than he'd thought.
"It is, but you still have a long way to go, scalelicker."
"Can you stop calling me that?"
"But it's what you do!"
"It's insulting!"
"I'm just pointing out where your tracks are headed."
"Ugh. Whatever, dude."
Blink giggled like the brat he was.
"Oh yeah! Have you gone to the library yet? How's your research on mole culture going?"
Blink's nose twitched at the question. He stopped and placed his hand on the tunnel wall. "I went to Hookfang Library like you told me to, but there's a lot of scrolls—too many scrolls!" He whined, "I don't have time to study them all in a few days. I don't have time to work on my own inventions either!"
Blink poked his finger at Joshua's ribs. "Believe me, scalelicker, I had to make a few deals with Uncle just to get into Windvale Arena."
After a few talks with the young boar, Joshua figured out his relationship with the Professor wasn't too good... which was bizarre. If the Professor in real life was anything like his counterpart in Ripto's Rage, that shouldn't be the case. The old mole was nice. Weird and quirky, but nice.
Joshua also had trouble remembering whether this Blink kid ever showed up in the games to begin with. "Definitely not from Insomniac's trilogy," he muttered.
"What?"
"Nothing," Joshua dismissed. "Just wondering what sort of thing you're working on."
Blink was all smiles. He reached into his belt pouch and took out a small notebook. Joshua eyed its design. A standard medieval-style note with a leather cover, its spine stitched and ribbed. The kid opened it and flipped through the pages as they walked.
Joshua was busy trying not to trip or run into the wall, but he glimpsed a few pages, and they had intricately designed diagrams. The whole look reminded him of Leonardo da Vinci's own notebook, or rather the pages that had been uploaded to Wikipedia.
The utilidor they were passing through had widened considerably, roughly 60% of the way through, by the time Blink settled on a page. "Here. Take a look." He handed it to Joshua, a thumb on the spine of the journal.
Joshua received it with his good hand. On one page, it had a three-dimensional diagram of the invention. On the other, its components were fleshed out in more detail. A full-blown schematic. Blink had written notes on the sides, his script being identical to the one being used throughout the Temple. In other words, it was unreadable.
He lifted the notebook to his viridian eyes and scrutinized the drawings. Some were simple drawings consisting of a long strip of something with a mark on one end as well as a circular plate with at least eight notches on its face. The other drawings looked more complex, detailing a pin, a few tiny wheels, a basin that appears it could be filled with what looked like ball bearings, and...
The idea came to Joshua automatically. "Is this a compass?"
Blink's eyes gleamed in the utilidors' torchlight. "You're right!" He rubbed the tip of his snout. "The first of its kind in Markazia! Portable, small enough to fit in my paws. I bet I can probably combine telescopes and other stuff with it once I get my first prototype out."
Joshua studied the blueprint some more. The torchlight in the utlidors were several grades dimmer than the crystal light in the main tunnels, and it made reading the document harder than it was supposed to. He hummed. "You're probably going to have to modify the structure a bit so you can attach it to all the other stuff."
"That's what I'm thinking! Have to complete the prototype first though." Blink swiped the notebook from Joshua's hand. He sniffled. "Aaaand that confirms what some of the whispers in the mineshaft are saying about you."
"Which is?"
"That humans are really advanced!" The young mole twirled on the spot. Joshua spied his short tail wagging in excitement. "I've shown this doohicky to the other scalelickers and they have no idea what it is. They know what a compass is but those idiots can't even imagine I can make one so small every knight in this city could carry one and never get lost!" He returned the notebook to his pouch. "You are seriously the first person to recognize it without my help."
Energized, Blink trotted over to Joshua's side and matched his pace. His behavior reminded him of Kilat. "So? Are you gonna tell me?"
"Tell you what?" Joshua didn't like the expectant glint in his gaze.
"What else your people made! I imagine tiny compasses the size of my claws are the very least your species have made."
"Oh we've gone far beyond that," Joshua indulged him. He took the boar's hand and forced it to show palm up, then putting his right palm side by side for comparison. "We've got this device that lets me look at my real-time position on a map and my bearing at the same time, and it's big enough to fit in my palm." Joshua's hand was nominally bigger than Blink's. "I think there would be smaller models good enough for yours."
His jaw dropped. "Whoa. That's amazing..."
"The best part is, that's not the only thing it can do. It's got multiple functions to it. It has a camera, and—
Blink interrupted him. "Rushing minecarts! That's the thing that lets you see things from far away, right? You mean that tiny machine has that too? And more?"
Joshua replied, "Well yeah—
"We have to make this!" Blink gushed. "We, NEED, to make this! I can imagine the look on Uncle's face when he sees me popping out all the stuff you had back home." He nudged Joshua's limp arm. "I bet you'd like it too. I can't really relate with you on it, but I'm sure you miss home in some way."
"N.G.L, that sounds awesome."
"N.G.L.?"
Joshua kept talking. "Seriously, it sounds nice. You won't even be the only one working on it."
"Really?"
"Yes! My sister wants to make the stuff I'm talking about just like you."
"You mean that Electric dragoness living with you?"
"Yeah."
Blink grunted thoughtfully. "Hnn, I never imagined there'd be a scalie who'd actually want to do work like this."
That sounded like Blink's thoughts on dragons didn't merely dwell on his species' fanatical obsession with them. Joshua made a mental note to ask the boar about that later. "Problem is," he went on, "Warfang's just too primitive. Compasses like the one you're designing right now, I think they were first made in my wor—in my homeland many generations ago."
"That's okay! As long as you're around I'm sure we'll find decent substitutes for this 'primitive inventor' and his young scalie assistant to craft something from your home." He balled his paw into a fist and punched Joshua on his left shoulder. He winced. For an arm that's more or less disabled, it was as alive as the rest of his body and that f*cking hurt more than it was supposed to. Christ, this kid hits hard...
"That's another problem," Joshua admitted. "I actually don't know how they're made. I just know what they do. Maybe a little bit about how they work, but that's it."
"What! Oh no..." Blink drooped at the news. He eyeballed Joshua, gaze losing life as the surprise sank in. "There goes that idea."
It was probably for the best anyway. Uplifting what was essentially a medieval civilization to something akin to modern Earth would lead to disaster. Some of humanity's greatest innovations weren't even technological in nature. Rather, they were conceptual, challenging the norms, upending the traditional beliefs held by conservatives for generations. Unleashing these dangerous, if subversive, ideas to the City of Dragons and whatever laid beyond the walls might have far-reaching consequences beyond Joshua's imagination. The world of the Legend of Spyro was an absolute medieval shithole. Pandemonium would result if Joshua unloaded even the little he'd accumulated from countless hours spent wandering Wikipedia and Google in between games, homework, and relationships.
The thought was sobering. Joshua swore that, on the day he rounded up Blink and Kilat to work on bringing human inventions to this primitive fantasy world, he'd maintain full control over the process. With that in his mind, he began comforting the young mole. He rubbed Blink's shoulder out of sympathy. He opened his mouth; whatever he had to say trailed off into nothingness for the path suddenly terminated and they found themselves in a wide hub that led to an even wider tunnel with countless workers traveling through it. "Whoa. We're almost there."
"Where are you meeting your labor?" Blink asked.
"Office of the Keeper, as usual. Under Steward Nydec's taking me to my groundhog." Thinking of that mole made Joshua's skin crawl. He was weird. Creepy as f*ck weird. Nydec had a tendency to run his snout along Joshua's skin and take deep, long breaths. He felt like the creep was trying to sniff out the smell of Kilat's spit and her lavender-like scent from all the "flavors" permanently infused to his skin from the days he'd been living in Warfang. "Usually I go and meet Groundhog Gaudog somewhere in the main tunnels, but that's only if I'm on time."
"I see."
Blink scanned the utilidor ahead, apparently seeking out Joshua's labor. His nostrils dilated as he sniffed the air, watching for the scent markers he had long committed to memory, considering how successful he'd been in stalking Joshua before. It was superior to his sixth sense, the gamer thought. Right now, he might collapse from sheer overload if he dared to look into the sea of stars that existed only in his mind.
Still, Joshua could sense the fluctuations in Blink's life signature. He could feel it stirring in his mind, tugging at the strings to which his sixth sense was constantly connected. Something was bothering him. "Hey Blink."
The mole, well, blinked. He faced the human. "Huh? W-what is it?"
"Is there, something you want to tell me?" He noticed the boar playing with his clawed fingertips. His short tail had gone stiff. And he couldn't maintain eye contact either, seeing how the kid had begun staring at everything but Joshua's face.
"Uhm..."
Joshua took the young mole by the arm. His hand felt the scrawny figure underneath his fur. He dragged Blink to the wall and, as Streeg and Copeland took positions around them, knelt down so their eyes were level. "What's on your mind, kid? You know you can tell me."
A few seconds passed. Joshua did nothing but hold his gaze for as long as he could. Half a minute had already passed by the time he felt like folding. Thankfully, Blink gave in first. With a sigh, he admitted, "I've been thinking. If, if they're going to give you a new job, make you—have you do the things you did the other day..."
"Uh huh," Joshua said. "I believe it's a matter of when, not if."
"W-when they give you that job, that, t-that means you won't be coming down here anymore, right?"
"Prooooobably not."
"Oh." His snout drooped, downcast. "I, I figured as much."
"Why?"
"Will you... will you forget about me, Joshua? Can we, still be friends?"
.
.
.
.
.
.
Joshua sighed. This kid had nobody to talk to down here, did he? He remembered the talk they had a few days ago, when the pup admitted to abhorring his own culture, rejecting the idea that he had to unconditionally kiss and lick all dragons by the paw simply for being what they were. He... actually felt bad for the guy.
"Dude." Joshua replied by giving Blink a light but sharp slap on the snout. "Why the hell am I gonna forget you? Stalking me for days and giving me jump-scares like a bad F.N.A.F. mod? There's just no way that's gonna happen." He clasped the somewhat confused mole by the shoulder, tugged at his suspenders, and shook him a little. "Blink, what I'm trying to say is, of course we'll still be friends. Even if I don't come down here anymore, you can always go topside and visit me in my room." He glanced at the two knights guarding them. If the guards let him in, he omitted.
"You, you promise? You're not just going to pretend you don't know me?"
Goddamn. Did people do that to him? Shit.
"I'm not that kind of guy."
The pup smiled. "Thanks."
Blink kept it up when they resumed walking. Joshua observed him. The way he bounced on his yellow sandals made it undeniably clear how much he had relaxed.
"Hey, you think they'll let you roam around the Temple when you get your new job?"
"I don't know, but... I'm praying they will." His life was so boring. All he did every day was eat, work, and sleep, with the occasional training. Being restrained to just two places was a gigantic killjoy to life off-duty. "I need a life too."
"If, and I know it's a big if, you're able to go around, where would you go?"
Joshua scratched his chin. His eyes rolled to the upper right as he figured out the answer to Blink's question. The mole pup said nothing, staring ahead as the various workers traveling in the utilidors with them bobbed and weaved around this small group like water.
"I would... go see the gardens first," Joshua said. "Just go there and, a-and lie down, somewhere. Being stuck underground all the time makes me miss nature." He also wanted to visit Ignitus's statue.
To pay his respects to one of Warfang's fallen.
...and to try talking to him again, as Ignitus was the second Chronicler.
"Hmmm, that makes sense. I'd romp around the gardens too if I was stuck down here all the time."
"You're really not like the other moles, huh?"
Blink snorted. "Obviously."
"Hey, I was wondering. Where do all the moles live—
"AHHH!" Blink cried. "Oh no!"
"What?"
"I forgot! Uncle Dumitru wants to go to Fracture Hills today! We were supposed to leave early." Blink drummed the floor multiple times in rapid succession. "Damn it, I'm so late!" He looked back at Joshua and waved his hand at him. "I'll answer your question next time, Joshua. Got to go!"
Blink sprinted ahead and disappeared into the diverse crowd traversing the main utilidor. His diminutive form was as oil; he vanished between an atlawa and an adolescent dragon, quickly squeezing through without so much a noise from either one. Joshua could still hear the pup muttering under his breath. "Grrr, stupid botanical samples. As if the dragons need that garbage anyway..."
Joshua shook his head. The kid would rather talk to him than show up for work? "I did not see that coming." He didn't know if he should be worried or touched by the gesture.
Copeland said nothing in response to his departure, while Streeg simply laughed.
"Alright guys, let's pick up the pace," Joshua said as they walked past the corridor leading to Coalfire Refectory. "The sooner we get to Nydec, the less time we'll all have to spend with that f*cking weirdo."
The Talonpoint knight in front of him let out a soft growl. "Agreed."
Joshua addressed the other guard. "Streeg, please don't barrel over someone again this time. God, I don't want to be yelled at again—
"HEY! APE PUP!"
He knew that voice. "Gaudog?"
"Over here!" The Groundhog's voice came from the passageway they just crossed. As Joshua stopped to turn back towards Coalfire Refectory, the mole's yelling reached his ears. "Catch!"
Reflexes honed over weeks caring for a young, energetic dragoness of the Electricity element compelled Joshua to instantly raise his right hand. He had barely processed the fact Groundhog Gaudog had thrown something at him when the very object he tossed impacted his hand. Unfortunately Joshua was as an amateur running back, fumbling the catch and letting the thing drop.
The mole screeched, "Oh no, no, no—
Joshua swung his good arm down and just barely caught whatever it was in the crook of his elbow. The gamer let out a heavy sigh, relieved he hadn't screwed that one up. "Thank the Lord!" he murmured. For a moment there, he thought he'd have to fall and try to catch the object on his stomach. It sounded fragile from the way his supervisor reacted.
Twisting his torso, he slid his good arm across his stomach until he could wrap his fingers around the object. His bad arm twitched; the fingers curled a little. For a second Joshua lamented his disability. "I'd totally kill for some P.T.," he mumbled to himself. "Now let's see what we've got..."
He raised the object to his eyes. It was a ceramic bottle. A fat one too, comparable to a litre back on Earth. A cork plugged the top, its business end sticking out.
"Huh. What's this shit?"
Gaudog strolled over to him. As usual he was naked, his muscular body donning nothing but the fur he was born in. Joshua couldn't mistake his satisfied grin for anything else. "That, ape pup, is a bottle of water."
That's what Joshua thought he'd say.
"—a bottle of Warfang ale," the mole actually said.
Joshua gasped. Did he hear him correctly? Was this, what, what he thought it was? "This is beer? You're telling me this is beer?"
"Exactly right, dragon killer!" Vradik chimed in, the corpulent bastard appearing behind his supervisor. Seeing the rest of his labor follow Vradik and Gaudog astonished Joshua. "Just brewed yesterday at Ember's Taphouse."
"A decent beverage for its price," said Gaudog, "though Gemcutters has better drink."
"Pricier, too," Vradik replied. "You know Moneybags still has his greedy paws on that place."
"True, that. Stinkin' bears."
"Hey Vradik!" spoke a third, noticeably thinner mole. Even if he had much difficulty distinguishing each mole from another (they all looked the same to him!), Joshua recognized his voice. It was Daglus. "Did you forget what we told you? You might have to give the pup a new name now!"
"A dragon killer will always be a dragon killer to me," Vradik retorted. "You cannot erase the past. But!" The mole fished out a ceramic bottle identical to the one in his hand from a large pouch sitting on an empty cart wheeled by the Daglus. He faced Joshua. "They can earn another name for themselves if they work for it."
"No truer words have been spoken," someone else in the labor said.
Daglus walked up to Joshua. He had the same bottle pinched in his armpit. Only now did he realize all the moles in this labor had one in their paws. "What did we tell you? All jewels require effort and dedication before they shine brightly for all to see."
Joshua Renalia had no f*cking idea what's going on. "C-can someone explain to me why you're all here?" he stammered, confused. "I thought y'all were working!"
"Haven't figured it out yet, have you?" His Groundhog chuckled at his reaction. "People in the mineshaft have been whispering all about your success in Windvale Arena. As your workfellows in this prestigious duty of manual scavenging"—Joshua resisted the urge to say something nasty out of respect (and ruin the moment)—"we have an obligation to celebrate your accomplishment."
Gaudog smirked. "We Moles have a long tradition of emptying one bottle of ale following wonderful news."
"But, we're about to work!"
"Just as tradition dictates!" he said. "We do this to recognize you are finally moving up. For all we know, today might be the last day you work as a manual scav."
It better be, Joshua hoped.
Thankfully, he managed to keep his private thoughts to himself.
Gaudog reached forward and uncorked the ceramic bottle in Joshua's hand. He was surprised to hear a faint fizz from within. That meant it was slightly—very slightly carbonated.
Oh, if only this was ice cold. Beer always tasted better cold. The moment made Joshua think about the many Saturdays he went drinking with his friends. Bars normally didn't serve his group since they were underage, but that limitation didn't exist in the house. He and Alaric would always go and visit the nearest convenience store, whether it was a 7-Eleven, a Family Mart, or a store attached to a gasoline station, and pick up two or three six-packs. Nobody questioned either of them as they went around their purchasing, even as they exchanged serious, no-nonsense discussions on Starcraft II strats and optimal builds for Diablo 3, with occasional talk on the old, still-thriving Left 4 Dead community.
Once they speculated on how fun Overwatch was going to be when Blizzard released it in 2016. Unlike Alaric and his other friends, Joshua was more excited for Tom Clancy's The Division, since that was also coming out next year. A third-person shooter with a chunk of the game devoted to scavenging and possible story missions in PK maps? Father Almighty, that sounded exhilarating. He prayed time dilation wouldn't be a thing when he came home. He'd hate it if God whipped out an Interstellar on him just for shits and giggles—
"You all right, pup?"
"H-huh?" Joshua glanced at Gaudog, whose eyes were fixed on him.
"For a moment there," muttered his Groundhog, "you looked like that one time Vradik threw a ball of glory on your face."
At the very last second Joshua pulled back the scowl that very nearly appeared on him. That day sucked balls. Not only did he have to deal with it for the rest of the workday, but he also had to endure Kilat's particularly nasty remarks during his bath that night. "Nothing," he was saying. "Just, just remembering my days back home."
Gaudog squeezed his left shoulder. Joshua eyed it with suspicion, and felt relief when he noticed it wasn't dirty. Yet. "We get it. Drink has a way of doing that to people. It's a universal thing. Happens regardless of species."
Regardless of space and time, Joshua added in his thoughts. He shrugged off his reminiscing, raised his bottle, and gave it a testing sniff. It smelled a bit... herbal. Was this how beer in the Middle Ages was like? He didn't feel very optimistic about it now. "I agree with you there." said the gamer. He lifted his good hand high. "To finally moving up, guys!" he said, forcing himself to grin. "Thanks for taking care of me. I know nobody in the labor started off on good terms with me, but I'm happy y'all gave me a chance."
Joshua gazed at Gaudog, who had taken a step back and picked up a bottle for himself. "You were right, dude. I only had to accept there's nowhere else to go but up. Thank you for being fair to me."
"Aye. You ascend the mines not because of what you do, but because of how you do it. As long as you do not lose sight of your goal, hard and efficient work will pay off."
Vradik surprisingly spoke next, "You have an impeccable work ethic, ape pup. If you can stand me, there's no way you can't tolerate worse! You're a good workfellow. Do not change that."
"I wish you more success to come as well, Joshua," Daglus said. "We'll miss you down here, but we also know our work isn't fit for a foreigner like you." He turned and saw a mole whose name Joshua couldn't quite place coming up to the group. He was carrying an empty crate. "Zehra, what are you doing?"
Zehra dropped the crate in the middle of the labor. "We'll be tossing our empty bottles here, Daglus." The mole addressed the group. "Anyway, boars, I know it's time to celebrate, but we can't take too much time on this either. It's the Summer Examinations after all. Isn't that right, Gaudog?"
Gaudog acknowledged his subordinate. "You're right, old friend." That was his cue to twist the cork off his bottle. The rest of the labor followed him. Joshua clearly heard the faint fizz of carbon dioxide being released into the air. It wasn't as strong as beers on Earth, meaning the carbonation wasn't all that high to begin with. Joshua believed this spoke volumes of the brewing process in Warfang—and the quality of the drink he was about to imbibe as part of centuries-old Mole tradition—but he disregarded it all.
Dismissed his modern concerns.
Discarded his lofty expectations.
None of that mattered right now.
He was just THAT desperate for alcohol.
"Drink it up, boars!" yelled Gaudog. His shout drew attention from the crowd for a couple seconds at most. "Up to the very last drop. Cheers!"
"Cheers!" cried the others. As one, the Groundhog and his entire labor brought their ceramic bottles to their lips and started chugging the drink until it was completely empty.
Joshua naturally followed suit. "Cheers." He brought his lips to the bottle. After a momentary pause, the gamer began downing one whole liter of authentic medieval ale.
.
.
.
.
.
.
As a teenager born and raised on a 21st century palate, Joshua Renalia did NOT enjoy it. Not a single drop.
Joshua expected this Warfang brew to taste like Hoegaarden or Paulaner. If not, then perhaps something similar to Dos Equis or San Miguel Pale Pilsen. He would have been content, too, if it unfortunately had the richness and full body of a Guinness draught. That was more of Alaric's taste, but it would've been far better—and infinitely more preferable—than something like Budweiser or Keystone. Those two tasted like piss.
Ember's ale, as he dubbed it, was far worse than he expected. The instant it landed on his tongue an acidic bitterness surpassing that of modern-day beers washed over his experienced taste. Where he should've been savouring the subtle, sweet flavor of fruits, malts, or hops—welcoming the familiar sensation on his taste buds only an alcoholic drink could provide, Ember's ale was not only as bitter as unsweetened and poorly-prepared black tea.
It was also nearly flavorless, and devoid of alcohol. It was weak as f*ck.
This was no different from buying a white loaf of Nature's Own from the Kroger outlet near his aunt's house and eating a slice straight out of the package after sprinkling shredded herbs on the top. Joshua was struck by an epiphany. So that's why people call beer "liquid bread"; it used to taste like this!
An earthen flavor identical to the scent of the bottle had Joshua choking on his first gulp of Ember's ale. It's worse than piss! the gamer lamented, yet he kept going. He powered through every swallow, slowly chugged the whole bottle down. Little by little it became easier to lift up the bottle, though his lungs started to crave air—
"Urk!"
Light-brown liquid splashed on his jaw and stained his upper tunic as he struggled to finish his drink. One second. Two seconds. Three. Four. Five. Six—
With a gasp, Joshua wrenched the bottle away from his mouth. The disgusting taste of Ember's ale clung to his palate. Joshua turned and spat on the wall, but even that failed to dispel the curse afflicting his tongue. Damn it. He still had a few more gulps left.
"Oh yeah!" He heard Vradik cry out. "That was great. What a way to start our day."
Daglus replied, "Agreed. We ought to visit Ember's Taphouse tonight!" He wiped his lips and casually tossed his bottle into the crate. The sound of it breaking into pieces was oddly cathartic.
Daglus smirked at Joshua. "Heh, will you look at that?" The mole stepped closer and gripped the body of the bottle, paw giving it a couple shakes. "Ape pup drank three-quarters of the ale! Didn't think you could go that far." He tugged it out of his grasp.
"W-wait! I'm not finished—
Gaudog extended his arm and intercepted Joshua. "Don't worry about it," said his groundhog. They watched Daglus chuck the bottle into the crate. Likewise the other moles had emptied their bottles of Ember's ale and were all busy disposing their trash. "If you'd like to keep drinking, come with us to Ember's tonight and—oh." Gaudog let out a gauche chuckle. "I forgot; you're still stuck here. Next time then, when you're able."
"Someday I'll take you up on that offer then." Joshua clasped his hands together and stretched. He felt a faint buzz coming on to him.
Alcohol content might've been 1% or 2%, but he drank a liter. A whole f*cking litre of beer. Even an experienced drinker would feel something after a couple minutes.
"So, where are we off to?"
"We've got at least eight lavatoria to clean up today," Gaudog answered. "Summer Examinations are on track and going high speed ahead, so we're working with a few other labors. We need every paw we can get."
His groundhog pointedly stared at Joshua. He quaked. "W-w-well, I'll be on cart duty as usual—
"No can do, Joshua. Under Steward Nydec's got three labors dedicated for that. Everyone else got the dirty job."
Hearing that sent Vradik, Daglus, and the rest of the labor whooping for joy. "Oh YEAH!" someone cheered.
"Just the way I like it!" screamed another mole.
"All right, pup," Gaudog said to him. "Time to go. Put your backpack on the cart and walk with us. We've got a long day ahead."
Copeland slapped the pommel of his sword on his armor. "Streeg and I will stay at the Office of the Keeper as usual." He locked eyes with Joshua. "Good luck, kid."
The feline said it while hiding his urge to laugh. Joshua could sense his schadenfreude in his sphere of life. He just knew it.
Joshua was too busy screaming internally to do or say anything else. He followed the labor into the utilidors, cringing at the thought of staying in the mud all day. This hadn't happened in two weeks.
He felt sick. I can't wait anymore! F*****ck! When will this shit end?
Joshua would weep for the rest of the day.
Author's Notes:
Hmm... ending is a little weak... it'll do, though. It will do.
Last chapter we had the Middle Ages' concept of coffee. This chapter, we had beer. °˖✧◝(⁰▿⁰)◜✧˖°
Joshua's experience with medieval ale is pretty much legit. There was an answer on Reddit (or was it Quora?) where somebody tasted native, home-brewed beer in Africa or something, and he reported a similar experience.
In addition, I found a reliable source describing someone's project of making medieval beer with techniques that only existed at the time. The writer went as far as showing his references and taking down notes on how the drink looked like and, it goes without saying, what it tasted like. Check out this web page right here: ww .cmu .edu/~pwp/tofi/medieval_english_ . To be specific, what Joshua drank was basically the "weak ale" that was universally available throughout society then. Unfortunately he lacks the social status and the connections to get a taste of liquor normally enjoyed by Warfang's nobility.
The gaming references Joshua makes in his head should clue readers in on when he was taken away from Earth. Specifically, he's from 2015, so he doesn't know anything about games or events in the real world from 2016 onward. He shouldn't know either. If you spot a reference that's out of place, then that was my mistake.
Coming up next chapter… I have no idea. Stryker's been suggesting I go back to the December Cliffs arc for something less "feel good". LOL. The next installment in that arc is scheduled for Chapter 45. I think you guys can wait a bit longer. (ﾟ⊿ﾟ) But if you agree with him and you think I should go check on what's going on with Spyro and his trip up north, then say it in the reviews. XDDDD
Replies to reviews:
Chaoscontrol108. This chapter's still riding on the tailwinds started by "Teacher's Pet 2" so a lot of the slice-of-life I've been packing is starting to come out. Don't worry about the main story; that will start moving in a bit once I refocus on the December Cliffs.
On #1. Thanks! I'm glad you find that addition makes this world so much more lively. :D It's just like real life, right? A lot of my work meetings with external partners often take place in a coffee house. I sometimes conduct employee interviews there. Sometimes.
On #2. It was a perfect setup, but TBH it was totally unintentional. I didn't try to make Terrador and Gavin friends until I realized I had a golden opportunity to show the former's softer and friendlier side.
On #3. Someone's got to be the conservative here. As far as he's concerned, Cynder and Volteer are taking too much risk for uncertain returns. He felt the same with Cynder before, but Spyro turned out to be right. Now he's concerned that Cynder is being biased. Acting on one's emotional biases is not something you want to see in a leader.
On #4. The guards ARE the ones in direct contact with Joshua almost all the time, so it's reasonable that they know more about him than either Volteer or Cynder.
On #5 We will not see Spyro's reaction to Joshua's new job until later on. I wonder if he'll freak out...
Djax80. Here's another update for you, bro! :D Something to read while on lockdown.
I love iced coffee, btw. Can't get through the day without one. I feel withdrawal, not having been able to drink iced frappes for the last few weeks... God I want a Starbucks...
To answer your question, Joshua's role in a party would be a dodge/evasion based tank. In D&D terms, he'd be a character with high DEX, high INT, with his skillset being focused more on debuffs, magical defense/reflection, and nectrotic damage. Or as you pointed it out in your PM: an arcane trickster who multi-classed into a necromancer without raise/create undead spells.
I thought I was pretty clear on the mechanics driving Joshua's Element. It is not powered by emotions and feelings.
Guest #1 (Guest). Maybe :D
Bolt Thrower (Guest). Okay... long reply... lemme see how to digest this properly...
We actually don't know what happened directly after the Guardians picked up Spyro, Cynder, and Sparx right after they emerged from the final battle in A New Beginning. Spyro and Sparx blacked out and when Spyro came to, all six of them were there to welcome him. Ignitus had a message for Cynder at that point and he was happy to finally have her back in the Temple. Meaning, we do not have a scene where they actually discussed Cynder's fate, and Spyro wasn't around to say it wasn't her fault. I would think that Sparx would at least be (reluctantly) backing up Ignitus with what he heard from Spyro.
I'm trying to recall the exact chapter that took place in. I don't remember ever having Volteer land an attack on Spyro. If you're talking about "Infighting #1", he was trying to stop a quarrel from happening to begin with.
I get that TLoS is a "Chosen One" kind of story. But Aimless takes place AFTER that story. Why would I repeat it with the same tropes? Every story has a beginning and an ending, but even endings aren't final. It's just the place where people stopped the storytelling. Yet... things go on.
A hero who killed the demon king and married the princess might end up having relationship problems or self-esteem issues after the final battle. Perhaps the hero who slew the Big Bad at the end of a long, epic trilogy might decide that the people he helped were ultimately undeserving of his help years after the fact, and as a jaded figure, chose to seclude himself from the world. Events like these will have an implication on the source material (similar to how Palpatine being the Big Bad in the new Star Wars trilogy undermines everything in the first six films, even though that most likely happened just so the director could still salvage the fuck-ups Kathleen Kennedy and Rian Johnson made in "The Last Jedi").
Again, I'm of the opinion that even the supporting party members of the Hero's party are also considered heroes in the same light. Perhaps not as widely celebrated, but still well-known and just as deserving of a premium status above normal citizenry. If you totally disagree with that, then so be it.
Cynder has to get used to having haters, that's right. I agree with you there. At the moment she's at the "I've been working my butt off for a long time why isn't it working" phase. A lot of my characters tend to be stuck as far as personality development goes (there's Kilat for example), but my defense for that is... it hasn't even been a very long time as far as the story's timeline is concerned. It's only been 1 month. Major personality shifts don't just happen to a person in such a short time, barring major or traumatic events.
Not gonna lie, I have been doing POV manipulation. :P It's fun. Third-person omniscient is so boring.
Spyro and the human MC being "buddy buddy"? Maybe there's nothing wrong with that for you, but for me, there is. I'm trying to set Aimless apart from the other "human fics" here, and one of the most common complaints is how easily they become close friends.
Yeah, the longer stuff goes on, the more I have to pay attention to things I wrote before and how they fit to the things I'm writing in the present. Ah well... it happens!
Derick Lindsey (Guest). Glad you enjoyed the previous chapter, Derick! I hope you like this one just as well.
Bizzleb. Hope you like this chapter! Another slice-of-life, and now we get to see medieval beer. XD
Cynder drinking a bowl of qawa? OMG that's a GREAT comm idea!
How exactly were my Reignited nods atypical? I'm not sure what you've come across...
Hope you enjoyed the chapter and see you in the next update :D
Velocicopter. Finally figured it out huh? It's funny how so many people thought she was a new OC. XD
Anyway, yes, some people appreciate coffee like that. I enjoyed my first cup too, but not to that extent.
Spyro never had a full-time tutoring/teaching job to begin with in Aimless. Are you reading SK's Grand Elemental Master? He's teaching there.
I'm sure Gavin and Joshua would be good friends. They'd argue over whether it should be pronounced "coffee" or "qawa", and I bet Gavin would go nuts when he learns that iced coffee is very popular among humans.
Looking forward to your next art, btw. You can always reach me on Discord. XD
BronzeHeart92. Well, that's because I literally just cut Convention #1 off of Convention #2 while I was writing it. The whole thing is like 18K words or something, put together. I was already at the 12K mark when I decided to split off Convention #1. Honestly, it would've read better as one chapter, but then again... future readers and re-readers can now enjoy both parts together. :P
I hope I did justice to his character. One line is so hard to work with...
Haven't checked out Boundary Break's video on Reignited until now. Been busy grappling with some problems on my end... I'm sick. D: It's not a mild case, but thankfully it isn't so bad that I have to be brought to the hospital. (°∀°)b
Piston24. Good to hear from you again, Piston!
My stock of coffee is just fine. I've got enough to last me through the lockdown.
Thanks again with your feedback on what I did with the coffee house. It was a gathering place in the old days, just as it is now. Anyway, if you didn't realize it was tea until the A/N, I suppose that means you should be a little more curious about the things you take for granted in today's world, yeah?
Now that you mention, this is like Zootopia. Except, it's a MEDIEVAL Zootopia! With MAGIC! XD
I wonder what sort of questions were answered with the previous chapter though...
Axzknapp. Yep! Finally... progress! XDDD
No he didn't. Joshua just came up with it on the spot. Total coincidence that it was the same nickname. I guess I should've mentioned that... ah well, it's just a minor thing.